Hollow Radiance
by HawkRider
Summary: For WishingDreamer5's challenge. 50 moments in the history of Radiant Garden. Rated just in case.
1. Calm Before The Storm

**The disclaimer is on my profile.  
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**Right, so here is the first chapter of WishingDreamer5's _Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden _fic. I hope that you all enjoy.**

**Note, these will be unrelated, so I will tell you when it is set and the theme.**

**Theme: Calm Before the Storm**

**Time: Post BBS, about three years after.**

**Characters: Kairi and Kairi's Grandmother**

**Word Count: 313  
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><p>The young girl hid under her bed. Sunlight streamed through the window and Radiant Garden was celebrating the first day in years where Yuffie hadn't caused any trouble.<p>

So why was this girl hiding?

She was scared.

She could sense that there was something big coming. This wonderful day, she knew, was just a warning.

The calm before the storm.

The door to her bedroom opened.

"Kairi?" The woman asked the girl under the bed.

The seven year old looked at her.

"I'm scared grandmother..." She whispered, too afraid to even speak loudly. The woman nodded and knelt in front of her.

"Why are you scared dear? Nothing bad is happening today. The sun's shining, the birds are singing and that rascal Yuffie is nowhere to be seen."

"I know. But... but something's going to happen soon. I can feel it... It feels like we're stuck in a dark place with impending doom and no way out..."

"That sounds like my life..." The woman muttered. "Wait, were did you learn the word 'impending'?"

"Isa said it..." Kairi muttered, reaching out from under the bed to take her grandmother's hand. "I feel like before. Remember? When we met that nice Aqua lady, and then when there was that... thing that appeared in the square not long after..." She shivered. "I felt the same then. Something bad's going to happen. I can feel it..." She started to cry from her fear. "Please... Grandmother. Please protect me..." She reached out and hugged her grandmother, coming out from under the bed.

"All right my dear. I promise." She pulled the girl upright, and smiled at her. Kairi hugged her with one hand, and with the other she clutched the necklace she hadn't taken off for the last three years.

The screaming began.

The calm had ended.


	2. Pain In The

**Theme: Pain in the...**

**Time: During KHI, between Wonderland and Agrabah.**

**Characters: Riku**

**Word count: 386**

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><p>"That woman is such a pain in the...!" Riku shouted as he kicked his bed.<p>

"Quiet you!" Shouted a voice from the next room. Riku has half-tempted to go over there and threaten whoever it was with Soul Eater, but then he remembered the freaky octopus woman. It sounded a lot like her...

And Riku really didn't want any ink to get in his eyes.

He chuckled, then went back to attacking his bed, pummeling the mattress, the four posts, the black lace curtains (which was very difficult), the frame. He then summoned Soul Eater and threw it at a dummy on the far wall, which he had dressed up as Maleficent. It hit her in the center of the head, falling right out as it split in two, sand pouring everywhere.

He chuckled as he imagined Maleficent's doing the same, still with sand though, then went back to beating up the bed.

"First she tells me to kidnap a defenseless girl, then I have to plunge a world into darkness, then I have to send a Heartless to attack my best friend. Even if he did replace me, as she claimed he did, I know that that just isn't him. He's much too innocent to do that." With a random cry of rage, he flung himself on the bed.

He then moaned about his next job. "So, next I have to kidnap another girl? And a princess at that." He punched a pillow hard, imagining the witch's face. "Oh, joy. I'll be arrested before I could ever get close." He complained. He threw cushion-Maleficent across to dummy-Maleficent, which somehow balanced on the neck, where the head had burst open. "i wonder if she's even going to find Kairi for me?" He asked himself.

He felt something wet on his cheek. He had become so angry, he was crying. _Or am I crying because of how futile this is?_ He asked himself.

"There you are Riku." Maleficent appeared in a burst of green flames. "Now, allow me to take you to Agrabah." She said, unfazed by the destruction of the room.

Riku stood, then walked over to Maleficent, his face betraying none of the rage he still held. "All right." His vision was filled with green flames.


	3. Ninja

**Theme: Ninja**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Characters: Yuffie, Rikku**

**Word count: 286**

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><p>"Can you teach me how to do that?" Rikku asked.<p>

"What, this?" Yuffie once again threw a smoke bomb to the floor, before reappearing on a nearby rooftop.

"Where are you?" The Gullwing asked herself, wondering if Yuffie was idiotic enough to answer.

"Up here!" The ninja called.

"I guess so..." She muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Don't worry." Rikku remembered what happened the time Cloud called her an idiot. He was checking over his shoulder for over a year and was limping for two months.

"Tell you what, catch me and I'll tell you!" Yuffie leapt across an alleyway and started to jump between buildings.

Meanwhile, Rikku pulled out a small device and tapped the screen. She then suddenly shrunk, her clothes changing instantly as she grew a pair of wings. "All right Yuffie, you're on." She took flight across the buildings of Radiant Garden.

The two chased each other all over town. Whenever Rikku grew close, Yuffie would use her smokescreen trick.

After about seven of these events, as they were in some backstreets just behind the marketplace, Rikku flew below roof level, following Yuffie by her shadow. "Look out Yuffie..." She murmured, humming the Jaws theme music as she followed the ninja.

"Hey, where are you?" Yuffie asked. Rikku could see her standing at the edge one one rooftop, facing away from the street. The Gullwing flew up behind her.

"SURPRISE!" She shouted, before tackling Yuffie to the ground. Yuffie screamed.

"Get off me... Rikku." She sighed. "Fine. I'll teach you that trick..." She said, sorrowfully.

"Yay!" Rikku squealed, imagining her plan to coax emotion out of Paine.


	4. Mischief

**Theme: Mischief**

**Characters: Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Leon**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 458  
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><p>"Come on you two!" Rikku called quietly to the two other fairy-like girls behind her. "We don't have much time!"<p>

"Why did we agree to go along with this?" Paine asked.

"Don't ask me." Yuna landed on a rafter before following Rikku towards Leon's bedroom. "I'm not even sure why we're doing this."

"It's because he's been mean to us!" Rikku called. "I can't believe you forgot what he did Yunie." She sniffed, as if there were tears in her eyes, knowing that that would spark a reaction.

"No, nonononono! I remember Rikku!" Yuna called, shaking her head so fast it was a blur.

"Let's just get it over with." Paine said. "And stop pretending to cry." She scolded.

"Wait, how did... How did you know?" Rikku asked, surprised.

"You were laughing." She said, very simply. She flew out of a window, then back into the building by the next one along, ending up in Leon's bedroom. "Now for the disgusting part..." She muttered.

"So, where are they..." Rikku and Yuna flew in and started hunting through the various draws in Leon's room, finding things from the sheath for his Gunblade, to a role of posters from his time in school.

Yuna opened the final draw. "Here they are!" She called to the others. "Now, come on. Let's get this over with." She said, pulling one out as the others flew over.

Soon, everything in the draw was hidden in the rafters of the building. "That's everything!" Rikku called, clapping. "Thanks you guys!"

"I'm going to take a bath." Paine said, flying off to the nearest bathroom.

"I'm going to do the same." Yuna said, flying away as well.

"All right! See you girls later!"

The next morning, at breakfast, the Gullwings got up first, though Rikku did complain. They had breakfast, then waited for their work to be discovered.

"All right, who stole all my underwear!" Came a loud, fairly deep voice from Leon's bedroom. Two of the girls laughed, the third had a smug grin plastered on her face.

They stopped when Leon came down, Gunblade in hand as he glared at them threateningly. "It was you three, wasn't it?" H growled from the doorway. He' taken the time to pull on some pants, but they could see the discomfort.

He stepped through the doorway, then looked down, noticing the wire at his feet. He then looked up, just in time to see every piece of his underwear falling on top of him. He actually growled at the Gullwings, who fled, laughing, from Leon, one pair of boxers still stuck on his head.


	5. Princess

**Theme: Princess**

**Characters: Alice, Riku, Maleficent.**

**Time: Just after Wonderland.**

**Word Count: 352**

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><p>"Where could this be?" Alice asked herself as she walked down a dark corridor. After that 'mean young man with silver hair' had kidnapped her and taken her from the cage, although she didn't too much mind that, he'd started to drag her along... somewhere. So Alice fought free.<p>

She then started to flee down random corridors until she was so lost that even the young man wouldn't be able to find her, she thought.

She turned a corner and, for the first time in a while, she saw doors lining the corridor, doors which lead to bedrooms. Well, one definitely was. It had a strange dummy that looked like some witch, along with a four poster bed.

She sighed, walking into the room and finding a bolt on the door, ramming it home before lying down on the bed.

Hey, getting kidnapped, then getting lost will take the energy out of anyone.

She sighed contently as she went to sleep, the mattress soft.

She was woken by hands pulling her out of her be. "Who are you?" She asked groggily. She opened her eyes to see the young, silver haired men again. "Oh no..." She squeaked as he picked her up, carrying her to some room.

"Go in." He said, putting it down. Alice turned to see him standing behind her threateningly, a strange sword having appeared in his hand. "Go in princess." He ordered. Alice gulped and ran through the door.

"Speaking of which..." Someone said as she stumbled on one of the stones in the floor. "...We have another of the princesses with us." She smiled, a horrifying smile that made Alice tremble. "How do you feel, princess."

"I-I-I may ha-ha-have li-liked it m-more i-if y-you had-hadn't..." She took a deep breath. "I may have liked it more if you hadn't kidnapped me..." She muttered.

"Oh, why I am so sorry my dear. Here, come with me princess, and I will make it up to you.

Alice followed her, and within five minutes she was asleep in crystal.


	6. Flowers

**Sorry about the delay.**

**Theme: Flowers**

**Characters: Aerith**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count:471**

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><p>Aerith had always loved flowers.<p>

She'd grown up near a beautiful field, and in the Spring she'd run through the grass, the many colours blending together in harmony. Yellows and reds and oranges and purples and blues and pinks and greens.

Then the darkness descended.

She'd been seventeen at the time, and was doing her homework in that field, a painting of her favourite place in the world.

But the darkness descended, and the world had been taken, becoming Hollow Bastion.

She didn't know how she managed to get to Traverse Town. She wasn't that strong. Sure, she knew a bit of White Magic, Cure, Esuna and Haste, but she really wasn't that skilled with any of them. Haste she'd only learned that day.

But somehow she got there, and she found she still had the painting, still with a large section unpainted, around about a quarter of the canvas still visible. Who knows, maybe that was what it was that did it.

Saved by the paint...

When they'd finally managed to get back to Hollow Bastion, Aerith looked for the field, her old haven from the world.

It was there.

But the flowers were dead.

So all the while, through the rebuilding of the town, the unlocking of the memory of the town's true name, the final repairs to the town, the destruction of the Dark Depths, she busied herself with planting the flowers, looking after the seedlings, raising them into flowers, coaxing the bees to the field to collect the sweet nectar, to pollinate the flowers.

While she waited for the field to return to it's old beauty, she opened a florists. The shop, _Summer Meadow_, flourished and she was soon nearly overwhelmed by the she number of orders she received. And never did a customer complain to her.

Two years passed, and the field had finally returned to it's previous splendor. It had taken a full ten years, from when Aerith had started the painting. But now, she took her easel, a polished oak affair, and the canvas to the field, setting it up and, brush in her right hand, pallette in her left, she finished the painting.

Greens swept graceful lines, as red and orange and yellow and blue and purple and pink were dotted the newly painted grass, the colours blending together in perfect harmony.

Then came dark browns, sweeping upwards to form elegant trunks, dark green sponged on top for the leaves, then more brown for branches. Then again, and a third time.

Then, she stepped back, looking at her work.

Then, with black paint of a fine point, she singed her name, an elegant script in the bottom right corner, underneath one of the closer bluebells.

And she smiled, remembering the wonderful times she'd spent in the field, breathing in the scent of flowers.


	7. Promise

**Theme: Promise**

**Characters: Isa, Lea**

**Time: During BBS, after the trio leave**

**Word Count: 354**

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><p>"Hey Isa!"<p>

"What do you want moron?"

Lea pouted. "That wasn't very nice..." He recovered quickly. "I've got another pl..."

"Another plan, so foolproof that it makes all of my other foolproof plans look like they were thought up by a complete and utter idiot." Isa mocked, saying exactly what Lea was about to say. "Maybe it's because your old plans were made by a fool." The bluette added, smirking.

"What! You... You..." He struggled to make a comeback, so resorted to an attempted glare, which Isa easily brushed off. "Grr..." The growl was his last resort, but still failed to get past Isa's barrier of blandness.

"Remind me how we're friends." Isa asked, sighing from Lea's idiocy.

"Hmm... well... I can't remember. But we made that promise soon after, I think..." Lea grabbed Isa's bottle of water and emptied half the contents into his mouth.

"Oh yeah, that ridiculous promise that you practically blackmailed me into making..." Lea spluttered, managing to turn so as to not cough up water of his best friend. Isa thumped his back, encouraging the coughing.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"... Was that true or not?"

"Was what?"

"That I blackmailed you."

"Well, yeah. You threatened me with a jug of water. You know how much I don't like water."

"Oh... sorry."

"Why did you want us to make that promise?"

"So we could be together forever of course!"

"I'm not going to bring up how that sounded..." Isa muttered, Lea too lost in memories to hear.

"What, can't we be friends forever?" Lea asked.

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that, if you hadn't forced me, I may have actually agreed willingly, if later."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're annoying, but it's fun." Lea growled again. "You know, I really hope we manage to keep that promise." Isa commented.

"Me too..." Lea paused. "So, do you want to hear this plan?"

"Why not? I've not got anything better to do today."


	8. Friends

**Theme: Friends**

**Characters: Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Auron, Lulu (A little bit of a crossover here...)**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 304**

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><p>"Guys! You made it!" Rikku shouted, running towards two people climbing off a Gummi Ship, one a man in red, his left arm her underneath his coat is if it was in a sling, the other a woman wearing a black cloak, her cloak patched up at the front with belts, her legs just visible behind, her shoulders bare. The two groups walked towards each other, Yuna and Paine confused about who they were, the other Gullwing hyper, as normal. The other two were both rather stoic, but had a discreet happiness on their faces. As they grew closer, Yuna saw the scar over his eye.<p>

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" The woman said, looking around. "Radiant Garden. I've wanted to visit this place for years..."

"It's... different to Destiny Islands... and very different to Bevelle..." The man commented.

"Who are you two?" Paine asked bluntly, as ever.

"This is Auron, that's Lulu." Rikku called, pointing at first the male, then the female. Yuna looked over them, seeing the sword on Auron's back, and Lulu was holding... was that a toy Moogle?

"So how did you meet Rikku?" Yuna asked politely.

"Um... well..." Rikku was looking nervous for some reason.

"She tried to rob me." Auron said, making the blond Gullwing glare.

"That sounds like her..." Paine commented.

"OY!" Rikku was mad, so much so that there was smoke coming out of her head.

Lulu cast Water on her head. "You were about to set on fire." She explained.

Rikku pouted.

"So, Yuna, right?" The heterochromic girl nodded, finding something familiar about Lulu's voice. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but they rang bells. Quiet bells, but bells all the same.

Just like... they were old friends.


	9. Restoration

**Theme: Restoration**

**Characters: Tifa, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Cloud**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 307**

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><p>Tifa frowned. "Not there! Take it further left!" She called to Huey, Dewey and Louie, who were at that time using a crane to lower a large segment of the roof onto the Bailey, the Radiant Garden Restoration Comity having started once the Heartless threat had died down. There were still some, but not nearly as many. Mostly Shadows, but with a couple of Soldiers and Deserters, which was always funny to watch. The town's defence system could take care of them with ease.<p>

The roof part slid into place, and Tifa jumped down from the roof once she'd made sure the roof was steady. "Nice job guys!" She called to the three ducks climbing out of the crane. "That's all for today."

"Finally!" Huey exclaimed.

"Tomorrow we're getting to the Dark Depths. Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and Cid are over there now. Some last minute reminiscing, I think. After that, it's just some minor repairs before the town is restored."

"Don't forget the castle!" Dewey called, reminding Tifa of their last job.

"Oh yeah." Tifa hit the side of her head. "Silly me." Cloud arrived.

"Where were you?" She asked, angry.

"I think I lost weight." Cloud said, climbing off his motorbike.

"What?" Tifa asked.

"All that dilly-dallying." Cloud smirked, and Tifa clipped him on the back of his head. "Ow." He said sarcastically. Tifa prepared a punch.

"Give me one good reason not to do this." She said through gritted teeth, glaring at him.

Cloud's smirk remained. "Maybe because you'd have to look after Marlene and Denzel on your own."

Tifa still hit him.

"So..." Cloud said, rubbing his arm. "...too late to help?" He asked. Tifa smacked her face.

"How is it that I like you?" She muttered.


	10. Lion

**Theme: Lion**

**Characters: Leon, Aerith, Yuna, Simba**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 321**

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><p>"Anyone care to tell me why there's a lion in the marketplace?"<p>

"I haven't got a clue..." Yuna commented.

"How did it even get here? I didn't even know lions existed in this world..." Aerith commented.

"We may end up having to put it to sleep." Leon commented.

"What!" Aerith gasped.

"I'm not going to do it." Yuna said, using her Dress Sphere to turn into her nearly harmless pixie form.

"And even if I wanted to, I couldn't do it. Holy wont work on beings of Light." Aerith told him. "And that's the only offensive White Magic."

"Of course. I guess I'll have to do it..." Leon summoned his Gunblade, a little reluctant to have to get so much blood on it at once, and walked towards the sleeping lion.

The lion opened his eyes, growled, then... gasped?

"Leon?" It said.

This, of course, threw Leon. "You can talk?" He paused, then something hit him. "How do you know my name?"

"I was in your pocket for five years! How could I not know?" He laughed. "I was that gem. Don't know how that happened though..."

"So, your soul was the one that turned into Leon's good luck charm?"

"Which you gave to Sora." The lion said.

"So, what's your name?" Yuna asked.

"I'm Simba. And I have no idea either how I got here, or how to get back." The lion said.

"I'll take you." Aerith said, happy to help as she always was. "Follow me." She led Simba off towards the Gummi hanger.

"That was... surprisingly simple..." Leon commented.

"At least it was me here and not Rikku." Yuna said. "Ever since we visited the Pride Lands, she's never gotten enough of seeing lions..." She shuddered. "She squeals whenever she sees one. It's horrible!"


	11. Kitten

**Theme: Kitten**

**Characters: Rikku, Yuffie, Cid, Merlin**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 299**

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><p>"SO CUTE!" The squeal pierced through the solid oak door and all the way across the room to Merlin and Cid's ears.<p>

"What is that infernal racket?" Merlin asked Cid.

"Dunno. You go and look. And make sure they're silenced when you come back!" He shouted as Merlin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He reappeared on the battlements, where the two hypers of the Restoration Comity were crouched around something. "Now, what's going on up here?" The wizard asked.

"WE FOUND A KITTEN!" Yuffie squealed, causing the old man to wince. Merlin cast a quick spell, causing the two to sound much quieter after the sound had traveled about three inches.

"You... found a kitten..." Cid said, walking up the steps. He sighed. "And, why is that so screech-inducing?"

"BECAUSE IT'S SO CUTE!" Rikku squealed, revealing a tiny tabby cat with the largest blue eyes either of them had ever seen. Yes, even bigger than Sora's. As hard as it is to believe.

"Yes. I guess it is cute." Merlin admitted, staring into those cerulean eyes.

"Yeah..." Cid agreed as the two girls started giggling and cuddling the baby cat.

"So can he stay with us?" Yuffie begged.

"You know that Leon is allergic to cats." Merlin reminded them.

"That's ironic..." Rikku commented.

"I know." Cid said, his attention now diverted by Yuffie, who was unaware of how far down her hot pants were starting to slip.

Merlin silently distracted him before Cid got into much trouble.

"You'll need to check with the others if you want to keep it." Merlin said. "So long as you look after it, I'm good."

"...Just keep it away from my computer." Cid warned them.


	12. Morning

**Theme: Morning**

**Characters: Sora, Riku, Kairi**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 306**

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><p>Sora yawned, sitting up in his bed as he looked around the house. He had a moment when he couldn't remember where he was, and was on the floor before he remembered.<p>

"Oh... yeah." Sora rubbed his head, looking around the room in hopes that Riku was still asleep.

He wasn't.

Riku was staring at him, eyes laughing as well as his mouth. "How didn't I hear that..." Sora muttered to himself.

"Good morning Sora. And no, we weren't kidnapped." Riku joked.

"Not funny Riku." Sora got ready to summon Ultima Weapon, but at that moment Kairi burst into the room.

"Morning guys!" She chimed, not seeming to react to the fact that both boys were shirtless.

"Morning Kai." The two boys replied, Sora still glaring at Riku.

"Come on you two! Get some clothes on. It was your idea..." She pointed at the silverette. "...to come here and help with the restoration, so the least that you can do is to get to work on time! So get ready, or else." Riku gulped, remembering the last time he'd ignored one of the wine haired girl's 'or else' threats. He's woken up with ten pounds of make-up on his face, made into ridiculous line and shapes that had the whole town in a fit of laughter before Sora finally pointed it out.

To this day, it is still brought up in half the World's conversations.

"Fine. But could you give us some privacy Kai?" He asked the girl, who blushed as she thought about it. She fled.

"Riku?"

"What Sora?"

"What do you think our chances of getting breakfast this morning before work?"

"If you keep on talking instead of getting dressed, zero. You know how much Rikku and Yuffie can put away."


	13. Cry

**Theme: Cry**

**Characters: Aqua, Kairi**

**Time: BBS**

**Word Count: 376**

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><p>Aqua was sad.<p>

She had made it seem to her best, and only, friends that she'd let her new title get to her head.

_Why can't I keep my big mouth shut_? She asked herself.

It could have been something really easy to manage, just to make sure that Ven got back to The Land of Departure, but no. She had to break the trust of her friend.

She couldn't help it.

She cried.

"When did he become so independent?" She asked herself. She'd always thought of herself as a motherly figure for Ven, though not a smothering one. She looked after him as best as she could, ever since he'd been brought to the castle by Master Xehanort.

She walked up some steps, and found a little girl. She was picking flowers.

She smiled, then was about to walk away when multiple Unversed appeared behind her.

She called her Keyblade to hand while sending a rain of Thunder magic down on them.

While it didn't defeat all of them, it was certainly enough for the girl to notice the threat behind her. She span, gasping.

"Run!" Aqua called, hitting a Flood dead on with some Fire magic. The girl looked for somewhere to hide and took off through the Unversed, all of them too surprised to do anything about it. The young, wine haired girl stood next to Aqua, looking at the Keyblade in her hand. She reached out to touch it, then ran off, leaving Aqua to deal with the Unversed.

They were soon gone, and the wine-haired girl appeared again. "Hello." She said.

"Hello there." Aqua smiled, fighting back tears.

"Don't cry Miss." She said.

"I'm not crying." Aqua told her. "See?" She pointed at her eyes. "No tears."

"You are crying. In here..." She pointed at Aqua's chest. Aqua blinked in surprise.

A woman called, and the girl turned. "Goodbye Miss."

"Wait..." Aqua said, waiting until the girl turned before pointing her her necklace. "Always wear this, for it will protect you." The necklace gave off a small glow before returning to normal. "Goodbye!" She brought up a smile.

"Bye!" The girl called, running off to go home.


	14. Eyes

**Theme: Eyes**

**Characters: Braig, Dilan, Aeleus, Xehanort**

**Time: End of BBS**

**Word Count: 333**

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><p>Braig knew those eyes.<p>

How couldn't he? They belonged to the person he'd worked for for years.

They may have moved to a different body, but that shade of amber was unmistakable.

This was Xehanort.

But how did he enter a new body?

Braig had no answer.

"Hey, Dilan, Aeleus. Has the new apprentice arrived yet?" He asked.

"No." Aeleus briefly replied.

"And he isn't due to arrive for another half hour yet." Dilan continued, throwing and catching his lance.

"All right guys. When you see him, could you tell 'im I'm looking for him?" He asked.

"All right." Dilan replied.

"Now go." Braig took his leave, using the spell Teleport to head to his training ground.

He couldn't get those eyes out of his head. They belonged to a man of ninety, but were in the body of an eighteen-year-old. With white hair. Otherwise, he looked exactly like Terra, that annoying kid who'd lost him his eye, thanks to that Xehanort...

Braig shook his head and started to teleport randomly, shooting dummies in the head left, right and center. "This is boring." He complained after beheading thirty six dummies in a single shot. "I need to get a life. Or a job." He thought. "Maybe Ansem is hiring. It'd be helpful..." He muttered before teleporting back to Dilan and Aeleus. "Is Ansem hiring another guard?" He asked.

"No." Aeleus answered.

"Are you sure?"

"No, he isn't hiring. Now get lost." Dilan told him, frowning and discreetly moving into a battle stance.

"Maybe I'll ask him..." He said, deciding to talk to Even at some point. He turned to walk away, the eyes of his last employer staring right at him.

Xehanort simply walked past him, Dilan and Aeleus before disappearing into the castle.

"Better luck next time." Dilan told him as Braig turned to leave.

But he wasn't noticed, Braig had those eyes stuck in his head.


	15. Baby

**Theme: Baby**

**Characters: Ansem the Wise, Even, Ienzo**

**Time: Pre BBS**

**Word Count: 269**

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><p>"Will you get that Even?"<p>

"Of course sir." Even, the first of Ansem the Wise's apprentices, walked to the door, opening it to find a baby.

Well, not so much a baby as a very young boy, with slate blue hair and a slightly dejected look on his face.

"Are you lost?" Even asked. The boy shook his head, Even barely even able to tell it was a shake. "Don't you need to get back to your parents? It's very late." In response, the boy darted inside, avoiding Even. "Guards!" The academic yelled.

"Now, now Even." Ansem the Wise said, slightly disapprovingly. "This is a young child, just an infant. Surely we couldn't expect him to be a danger now, could we?"

"Of course not sir." Even replied, watching the boy, currently sat on a chair opposite Ansem the Wise. "It's just that that boy should be in bed at this time of night."

"Well, we do have a spare bedroom." Ansem the Wise reminded the dirty blond.

"That's not what I mean. He should be at home with his parents." The boy leaned around his chair and shook his head.

"I think we have a new member in our household." Ansem the Wise said. "Am I right in saying that you're Ienzo?" The boy nodded. "Glad to see my memory isn't going just yet. Now Even, would you show our new friend around?"

"Of course sir." Even said, leading Ienzo to his new bedroom.

And so, Even and Ienzo's friendship, of sorts, began.


	16. Darkness

**Theme: Darkness**

**Characters: Ventus, Vanitas, Scrooge McDuck, Terra, Aqua**

**Time: BBS**

**Word Count: 379  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Thank you sir."<p>

"No problem laddie." The duck called to the retreating blond, now with three passports for Disney Town in their pockets.

Ven ran through streets, following a strange Unversed he'd noticed before being delayed by the duck's thanks. He was, however, fully ignorant of the shadow he'd picked up, darting between alleys and staying out of sight. Ven was the only one on the street, so there wasn't much chance that he would be seen, especially because of how the blond was too focused on keeping up with the Unversed.

Vanitas sighed, running a hand through his black hair as he felt a group of Floods die, returning to him. He always felt their deaths, the pain of their end going with their essence.

Still, it meant that he would supply an unlimited number of Unversed for those idiotic Keyblade Wielders to fight. And he never knew, maybe one of them would finally defeat one of them.

Hopefully not Ventus though, Vanitas, through Xehanort, needed to fight his other half in order to forge the χ-blade, the ultimate weapon, in his opinion. And Vanitas couldn't wait until he could use it.

Ven arrived in a courtyard, along with Terra and Aqua, and Vanitas stood on one of the high walls surrounding it, watching as the three parts of the Trinity Armour combined and began to attack the Keyblade Wielders. Vanitas smirked as Aqua was sent flying towards a wall, which fell when she used a Magnet spell to catch herself before sending a wave of magic at the Unversed.

The fight was arduous, but not long-lasting, and as the three landed the finishing blows. Vanitas nearly gasped from the sudden pain, but controlled it and forced it down, gritting his teeth.

He watched as his other half argued with Aqua before he stormed off in a bit of a huff. Vanitas almost laughed. His supposedly pure other half was harbouring some dark feelings inside of him.

He continued to follow the blond as he headed around the town, eventually encountering Terra. They talked for a very short time before Terra left, Aqua arriving as Ventus himself left.

And Vanitas followed him.

The pure half using passages of Light.

The tainted half using passages of Darkness.


	17. Happiness

**Theme: Happiness**

**Characters: Rikku (I'm writing a lot with her...), Leon**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 288**

* * *

><p>Rikku was always happiest when she was flying.<p>

It didn't matter to her how. It could be in her fairy form, or in her father's ship back on her own world, it didn't matter.

She adored flying.

Unless it was through a storm.

She hated lightning, was scared of it.

Well, there was one other thing that made her just as happy, but in a more 'severe adrenaline rush' kind of way, which involved pranking Leon and Cid.

Mostly Leon.

She found it fun, watching the normally rather stoic man break down in anger, starting to shout while she escaped with the smokescreen trick that Yuffie had, regretfully, taught her.

And their rivalry went on.

But still, there was absolutely nothing that could beat the feeling of flying to Rikku, especially in her fairy form. She could soar high into the air and enjoy the feel of the wind and water in the sky on her face, even sometimes giving in to childish instinct and spitting on someone walking below.

Whenever she could, she chose Leon.

And frankly, Leon would have to say that he enjoyed the rivalry as well. Although her pranks on him had more than once landed him with a face covered in make-up, his revenge schemes were fun to put into place.

Such as what he called 'knicker knockers', where, after a couple of lessons from an unknowing (well, sort of suspecting) Aerith, he sewed conkers on the inside of her underwear.

Mysteriously, Rikku didn't sit down for a week.

After that, Leon was found one morning with a full set of paint squeezed onto his face.

But despite all of that, the two were still very happy to keep pranking the other.


	18. Wish

**Theme: Wish**

**Characters: Aerith, Zack**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 548**

* * *

><p>Aerith really wished that her dream would come true.<p>

She wanted so many things to happen, too many, she knew, for them all to be able to come true.

She wanted Cloud to be able to stop having to hunt down his darkness and realize the light he had in there.

She hoped that Sora and his friends could live to see their grandchildren, and not have to worry about Heartless, or saving the universe.

She longed for the time when Radiant Garden was restored to it's former glory. She couldn't wait for that to happen. She knew it would eventually, but she couldn't help.

But there was one thing that she really wanted, more than anything else.

She smiled as she heard a guest come into her florist, _Summer Meadow_.

"What can I get for you?" She smiled at the person who'd come in, a young man, probably around her age, with spiky black hair, wearing armour and with a sword strapped over his back.

"Could I have a white rose?" He asked.

"That's six hundred munny." Aerith said, taking one of the delicate flowers from a vase on the shelves behind her. "Would you like anything else?"

"Hmm... What would make a good bouquet with that?" He asked.

"Let me think..." Aerith started to move on automatic, picking out a combination of flowers and arranging them in a roll of paper.

"You're a natural." He said as he looked at the bouquet. "How much is that?"

"Two thousand and twenty seven." She told him, reciting the price. She'd made that same bouquet several times before, and it was her favourite.

"Here you go." He handed over a handful of the coins, and Aerith carefully counted it all out before putting it in the till.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"Wait, could I get a gift tag?" He asked suddenly.

"Well, they're just over there." Aerith pointed to a rack at a corner of the room.

"Thanks." He lashed her a grin before turning to the tags, looking through them as Aerith took care of another customer.

"Here." He said, returning with a tag, one of Aerith's favourites. It was a simple bluebell, large enough for little writing, but not much. Aerith had hand-painted those ones, and she always loved when someone bought one.

"That's another one hundred and fifty munny." Aerith told him. He rooted around in his pocket a little, pulling out his wallet and a pen.

He counted out the munny, then wrote something on the card, tucking it into the bouquet once he was done.

He then gave the bouquet to Aerith before retreating.

Aerith stared at the bouquet for a minute, then pulled out the tag.

_Aerith,_

_I want to be next to you every night,_

_I want to see you at the day's first light._

_Zack._

She chuckled at the slightly cliché poem, then noticed a series of numbers underneath. His phone number.

She slipped the tag into her pocket, then headed into the back room, finding a vase and quickly arranging the flowers, filling it with water, then emerging and placing it on the counter.

She felt that her wish had been granted at last.


	19. Love

**Theme: Love**

**Characters: Aerith, Zack, Yuffie**

**Time: Post KHII, sequel to Wish**

**Word Count: 426**

* * *

><p>Aerith smiled as she looked at the latest gift she'd received from the elusive soldier.<p>

This time it was a box of chocolates, shaped like a heart.

She really did like what a cliché he was.

But she hadn't seen him since the time he'd bought the bouquet. Maybe it was because he'd not worked up the courage to call him.

The letterbox rattled, and Aerith walked to the door to pick up a copy of Radiant Times. As an impulse, she skipped to the review page and skimmed through, until she laid eyes on one. _Summer Meadow is bloomin' lovely!_ She laughed, sounding almost like a bell, and read through the short passage. Then she paused, looking at the name of the reviewer. Zack Fair.

"Good morning!" Yuffie walked in, a grin on her face as she waved to the brunette girl.

"Hello Yuffie." Aerith replied.

"Did you see that review?" Yuffie grinned. "I mean, come on, 'bloomin' lovely'? That's got to be one of the worst jokes ever!"

"I thought it was rather sweet..." Aerith trailed off.

"Really? What, are you taking a liking to this Zack?"

Aerith was starting to become tempted to use Stopaga. That way, she could hide the blush that was starting to form on her cheeks.

"Good morning Aerith." A familiar head of black hair came walking in.

"Hello there." She smiled, and felt her cheeks starting to blend in with her dress.

Yuffie looked between them.

"What could you recommend to go with... this?" Zack turned, holding three pink carnations.

"Hmm, well..." Once again, Aerith put together a bouquet, this one with more reds and greens than the first one's blues and whites.

"Wow..." Zack breathed as he looked at the modest, but pretty, bouquet. "So how much is that one?"

"One thousand two hundred and ten money." Aerith told him, and he paid up, hand staying in contact with Aerith's maybe just a little longer than was really necessary.

"Definitely worth more than that." He whispered, passing her the bouquet before leaving.

"What the...?" Aerith had forgotten about Yuffie.

"Could you keep an eye out here?" She asked. "I'll just be a minute." Without giving the ninja a chance to reply, she darted into the backroom, getting another vase ready while trying to bury her blush.

She slipped her hand into her pocket, feeling a familiar sheet of paper.

And she knew she'd call him.

For she'd fallen in love.


	20. Help

**Theme: Help**

**Characters: Data-Sora, Data-Riku**

**Time: During Coded, at Hollow Bastion.**

**Word Count: 338**

* * *

><p>The data that had taken on Sora's formed dodged an attack from an identically formed Riku, neither of the two holding back as they struck at each other with their Keyblades, Riku with Soul Eater, Sora with his newly forged Keyblade, ZeroOne.

Data-Sora tried to kick the other's legs from beneath him, but the silverette jumped, dodging the attack and would have hit him with a powerful blow to the head, had not Data-Sora ducked just in time.

"Riku, stop! This isn't you!" The data-forged boy cried, blocking a vertical swipe at his head. "Let me help!"

"The bugs will destroy this world!" The vessel of the journal's memories called, trying to force Data-Sora to his knees. And failing.

The silverette suddenly stopped pushing down, swiping at the brunette's feet. Data-Sora shuffled back, then threw his Keyblade at Data-Riku, hitting his on the chest. Riku stumbled back, then vanished.

Seconds later, he reappeared, a little above the ground as he slammed into the ground. Bug Blox flew everywhere, and Sora barely dodged one.

The fight continued like this for quite some time, neither of them managing to land many hits.

But at one point, Data-Sora somehow sent a Bug Blox flying back at Data-Riku after one of the teleporting tricks.

A Bomb Blox.

It's needless to say that Data-Riku went flying. Data-Sora jumped up and dealt several blows, managing to finally take out Data-Riku.

The silverette now lay there, Blox visible on his body as a sign of the Bugs in Data-Riku.

"H'yuck." Goofy said, the two running over. "What'cha gonna do now?" He asked.

"Ah, just leave him here!" Donald exclaimed, turning.

"We can't just leave him, we have to help!" Data-Sora told them. "I'm going in." He told them.

"WHAT!" They both shouted.

"It's the only way I can help Riku. I wont be long." Data-Sora held out his Keyblade, and before either of the others could react, he'd gone.

He'd left to help his friend.


	21. Mystery

**Theme: Mystery**

**Characters: Roxas, Xion, Demyx**

**Time: During Days**

**Word Count: 321**

* * *

><p>"We have to solve the mystery of the marketplace?" Xion asked.<p>

"Yes." Roxas answered as the two walked through Hollow Bastion. "As well as shopping."

"Why not send Demyx on that? It's not like he'll do anything else." She paused. "No, that's not fair. Let's just say he's like a slinky."

"How so?"

"Not really good for much, but brings a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs." There was silence for a couple of seconds before the two burst into laughter.

"Hey, what's so funny?" The Melodious Nocturne himself asked, running up to the duo.

"What are you doing here?" Xion asked.

"Xemnas sent me out here to help you. Said something about me being a slinky too..."

"Really?" Xion shuddered, asking herself when she'd started to think even slightly like lord paedophile Xemnas, master of the monotone.

"So, what is the mystery?" The two looked at Demyx.

"You got no clue either?" Roxas asked.

"Nope!"

"Let's just get our other job over with while we look." Xion said, pulling out a list.

They did their shopping, then waited for Demyx, who'd disappeared somewhere.

"Hey guys!" He called, running up behind them. "I figured out the mystery!" He cheered.

"Really? What is it?" Xion asked.

"Nothing." He was met with silence. "It's true. It says so on that plaque!" He pointed at a steel plate drilled into a wall, which did indeed read _'THERE IS NO MYSTERY IN THE MARKETPLACE_'.

"That... was pointless." Roxas said. "Well, we've got to head back." They headed to an alley, where Roxas opened a Dark Corridor. "See you Demyx!" The two called over their shoulders, closing the corridor before Demyx could get through.

Demyx stared, then shrugged, heading to a main road where he played Arpeggio for a while.


	22. Cid

**Theme: Cid**

**Characters: Cid, Cid, Yuna, Rikku, Paine**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 276**

* * *

><p>"Hello Rikku!" A bald man called, jumping down from an old-looking Gummi Ship.<p>

"Hello Dad!" The blond called back, flashing him a grin.

"And Yuna! My, how yo..." He noticed Rikku's motions to stop. "It's good to see you Gullwings." He told them.

"My, this is a fine ship." Cid, the blond one, said, patting the hull of the ship. "Great weapon system... but there's nothing short-range!" He pointed out.

"That's very true. I could do with some work on it. And Rikku tells me you're good with Gummis?" The hidden question was obvious.

"Sure, I can change a few things here." Cid looked around the rest of the exterior approvingly. "It's a really good ship you got. I don't need to change much."

"That's a fine thing to hear." The other Cid said. "Hey, have you seen any of your old friends?" He asked the Gullwings.

"Just Auron and Lulu." Rikku answered.

"So, Kimhari's not visited?"

"No. I know why to. It's because of Yuna."

"What's because of me Rikku?" Yuna asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing at all!" Rikku's head was a blur, as were her arms, as she tried to stop Yuna from getting too involved in her past.

"You're lying, Rikku." Paine stated.

"NO I'M NOT!"

"You are. You always get flustered when you're lying." Yuna nodded in agreement, and Cid barely stifled a laugh.

"EVEN YOU DAD?" She shouted, hearing the laugh anyway.

There was laughter almost all round, just not with Rikku, although she was almost caught up in the flow.


	23. Accident

**Theme: Accident**

**Characters: Cloud, Cid, Merlin, Tifa**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 255**

* * *

><p>"That was dumb Cloud."<p>

"Coming from the guy who has set up video cameras in the girl's bedroom." Merlin told Cid. "That's right. We know."

"How?"

"Check."

Cid swore, then took Cloud's Bishop with a Knight.

"It was an accident."

"You ought to write a book." Merlin suggested. "How to offend women in five syllables or less." Cid chuckled.

"Just because I made a slight screw up..."

"You asked her 'what else is there?'. When she asked you if you loved her for anything other than her looks." Merlin said.

Cid stole a piece while Cloud's back was turned, nudging it to the edge of the board before snatching it.

"Anything I say, doesn't get to my mouth the right way. If only I could..." An idea hit him. "I'll prove my love!" He moved a piece. "Checkmate!"

Cid gasped, then stormed off.

"He's in a grumpy mood." Merlin warned. "Watch out the next time you use a machine." The magician cautioned.

"Thanks for the warning."

"I cannot believe that you did that, though. You live with her, and you still don't know how her mind works."

"Quit it Merlin." Cloud growled.

Merlin merely chuckled before vanishing, moments before he was cut in two.

"Cloud?"

The blond froze, hearing acid in the words. Slowly he turned, to see Tifa, glaring, and making him squirm.

She clenched her fist.

Then, like his earlier idea, she hit him.


	24. Blood

**Theme: Blood**

**Characters: Irene (The Somebody of Exneri, from Nobodies Forgotten. © Leixym)**

**Time: Early in KHI**

**Word Count: 262**

* * *

><p>Irene shivered as the door slammed shut, staring at it as if it would bring the friend she'd made back.<p>

She'd been locked in the dungeon for so long that she'd completely lost track of time.

Thankfully, she wasn't alone. There was a boy with silver hair, sort of the strong, silent type, to talk with, but she'd never even found out his name. But now that evil witch had taken him off, proclaiming that he could be useful, whereas she was 'a miserably inadequate waste of space', to quote her exact words.

There was also that book. A spell book, hidden behind a loose brick for no apparent reason. She'd been looking through that as something to do, and could now use three basic spells, Fire, Blizzard and Thunder. They weren't all that strong, but it was better than nothing.

Especially now. A group of monsters suddenly appeared, bloated, disembodied heads that were black as pitch. She cast a Blizzard spell at one, which didn't seem to do much.

She started to try to dodge them keeping far away while watching them all in case any came charging.

Three did.

All at the same time.

She couldn't dodge.

Two of them hit the wall behind her, the other knocked her over, coming in for the kill. It attacked her throat, cutting through her jugular. She tried to scream, but couldn't. She physically couldn't.

And there was blood. So much blood.

The monster attacked again, this time killing her for good.

And there Irene died, in her own pool of blood.


	25. Gift

**Theme: Gift**

**Characters: Aerith, Zack**

**Time: Post KHII. Post Love.**

**Word Count: 582**

* * *

><p><em>Summer Meadow<em> had never been so popular.

There was barely ever a time when Aerith's florist wasn't swamped with visitors. She'd managed to raise enough money for a second shop. There was even a good place for it to be, around the same size and on the other side of the town.

"Hey there." Aerith smiled as she saw her favourite customer enter.

"Good morning Zack." She smiled at the soldier. She wondered if he'd remembered.

"I see that review helped you out."

"Helped me too much, really. I can barely keep up with my orders. And I have a big one to finish by three..." She trailed off as she finished arranging some flowers in a vase before pulling out another.

"Need a hand?" Zack offered. "I've always wanted to wear a pink apron..."

"No, I can cope with it. Don't worry Zack." She gazed into her eyes for a second before returning to her work.

"I can help, really!" He begged, but knew that he wasn't going to get to help. "All right then." He flashed a grin. "See you later!" He called as he left.

That evening, Aerith was locking up when she saw something on the floor. A Sakura blossom. And there was another, a little further down the street, and another after that. She pulled the key out of the lock and followed them, leading her all the way... to her own home?

She opened the door and flicked on the lights. "SURPRISE!" She jumped as party poppers popped and the other members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee cheered.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"It's your birthday! So, we put on this party!" Yuffie called.

"I don't think it was 'us', more 'him'." Leon pointed towards the back, where Aerith saw a figure, but couldn't tell who it was.

"Go on Aerith. Talk to him." Tifa encouraged.

She walked around the table, topped by a beautiful looking cake with many flower designs on the marzipan. It'd be a shame to eat it. As she passed him, Cloud gave her a pat on the back, discreetly mouthing 'good luck' when sh looked.

And then, he stepped out of the shadows.

"Zack..." Aerith whispered, astonished. He was wearing a suit, but there were a couple of signs of his normally casual wear, like the untucked shirt and his slight slouch.

"Hello there." He said, giving her his normal grin.

He then shocked her by dropping to one knee, pulling out a box as everyone, even Yuffie, went quiet. Aerith gasped.

"Aerith Gainsborough. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" He opened the box to reveal a ring, silver with five tear drops of ruby pointing to a small, circular diamond. A smile graced her face.

"Of course Zack." He smiled and took her left hand, slipping the ring onto her ring finger.

The room suddenly filled with noise.

"Congratulations you guys!" Yuffie yelled.

"You'll make a great couple." Tifa stated.

"Good luck." Cloud said.

"Well this should be entertaining..." Merlin commented.

"If you hurt Aerith..." Leon warned the ravenette, who gulped.

"Yeah yeah, enough with the mush. C'mon, cut the cake!" Cid broke the mood, and was on the receiving end of multiple glares.

And Aerith smiled, looking over to her fiancee, knowing she couldn't have had a nicer gift.


	26. Cloud

**Theme: Cloud**

**Characters: Sora, Riku, Kairi, Yuffie**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 301**

* * *

><p>"What about that one?" There was a pause.<p>

"Paopu." Sora said.

"Sora." Kairi said at the same time.

Riku paused for a moment. "Shuriken." He finally answered.

"There's another!" Sora pointed at another unusual cloud. The three were lying on their backs, heads near each other with their hair splayed out, forming a tri-coloured halo of silver, auburn and cappuccino around their heads, gazing at the clouds as they smelt the scent of the flowers in the meadow Aerith showed them.

"Crow."

"Dagger."

"Star." The three answered, getting rather different answers.

"That was strange." Kairi said, looking around for another interesting cloud formation.

"You guys are mad!" Yuffie laughed as she walked up to the trio.

"Says the hyperactive ninja who has the brain age of a three year old." Riku muttered, making the others laugh. Yuffie didn't hear, luckily for Riku.

"What's the joke?" She asked, unknowing of the humiliation she was suffering.

"Oh, nothing." Kairi covered.

"So..." She joined the trio, looking up at the sky as raven joined the halo. "What about that one?" She pointed at one.

"Flower."

"Star."

"Explosion."

"... Shuriken." Riku noted that two of the answers had been repeated. "What's the point of this?" Yuffie asked.

"It's just some fun!" Kairi replied, a little sharply.

"This is boring! All you're doing is staring at the sky!" She replied, sitting up and taking out the newest colour from the halo.

"Then feel free to go." Riku told her, neutrally but with a very slight venom.

"Fine!" She stalked off in a huff, but tripped and spoiled her dignity.

"See you!" Sora called.

"So, what about that one?" Riku asked.


	27. Smile

**Theme: Smile**

**Characters: Cloud, Tifa, Marlene, Denzel**

**Time: During KHII, not any specific time, just not when Sora is there.**

**Word Count: 272**

* * *

><p>"Cloud! There you are!" The ravenette woman ran up to the blond man.<p>

"Tifa." He replied, looking off into the distance with a rather blank look on his face.

"Cloud, you don't have to keep on running off. Why do you keep on trying to find him?" Tifa told him, using those exact words for the seventy fourth time that month.

"I just do." He said, moving away from the wall of Scrooge McDuck's ice-cream shop and beginning to walk towards the Borough. Tifa frowned.

"Cloud, why wont you let us in?" The little girl next to Tifa asked.

"Yeah Cloud, why?" The boy on the other side asked.

"Marlene, Denzel, Tifa... I can't..." He sighed, then looked back over his shoulder. "Why he's gone, you three will be the first to know." He told them.

"Why can't you give up on this?" Tifa asked, one of her fists clenched. "Why not forget about him? Come with us." She held out her other hand, giving him the choice.

"Come on Cloud!" Marlene and Denzel begged, looking up at him.

Cloud almost smiled at the offer, but kept his face blank. "I'm sorry." He carried on down the steps.

"Cloud!" Tifa called. He turned back to look. "Could you just smile?" She asked.

Cloud shook his head, then continued down, always keeping his eyes open for his old foe. He couldn't smile. He didn't like lying, and that would be a big one. "Where are you..." he muttered as he looked around the Borough for his old foe.


	28. Dance

**Theme: Dance**

**Characters: Yuna, Rikku, Paine**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 319**

* * *

><p>"Hey Yunie?" Rikku asked the heterochromic brunette.<p>

"Yes Rikku. What is it?"

"Remember that Dance Sphere we have?" Rikku held up an electronic device, her Dress Sphere, scrolling around to show one with a musical note design. "I had a thought."

"We are not forming a band." Paine said, one foot crossing the other as she looked out of the window of Merlin's house, people-watching discreetly from her vantage point in the upstairs window.

"Why not?" The blond moaned.

"Because." Paine said.

Two weeks later, the three of them sat backstage in Radiant Arena, built in honor of the end of the restoration and dedicated to the restoration committee, in three outfits and each holding a microphone in one of their hands, each matching the holder's outfit.

"How did I let you talk me into this?" Paine, sitting in the same position as she had in Merlin's house but watching the crowd outside the arena, asked Rikku, who was peeking through the curtains at the gathering crowd.

"The stadium's nearly full!" She squeaked, excited. "Ready?" She asked.

"No." Paine muttered, while Yuna nodded.

"Five minutes left. Ready to dance?" She asked the other two.

"Stop asking." Paine complained.

"I've asked that?" Paine face-palmed. "Oh." Rikku looked a little sheepish, then turned back to look at the stage. "Time to go out!" She cheered, dragging Paine up and leading the other two out onto the stage.

They were met by cheers, a lot of them. Rikku laughed loudly and waved to the crowd, egging them on, while Yuna just smiled and waved and Paine gave a brief gesture of acknowledgment to the crowd.

The crowd went wild.

The noise lasted for a minute or two, and when it died down. The music began, and the trio started to sing.

And so, the dance began.


	29. Crush

**Theme: Crush**

**Characters: Leon, Rikku**

**Time: Post KHII, post Mischief**

**Word Count: 277**

* * *

><p>Leon let a rare smile grace his lips as he finished the booby trap, tying the last knot before standing up to admire his work. "That'll show her. Rikku will pay for that underwear prank..." He muttered darkly, before baiting his trap with a large bar of Rikku's favourite type of chocolate. He then ducked through some strings, and checked the CCTV camera he'd had Cid install earlier that day was pointing at the 'impact area'.<p>

He then left, heading to his room, turning on the TV connected to the CCTV camera, sitting down to patiently watch for the trap to be sprung.

Rikku smelled something.

Something delicious.

Something like...

She screamed as she realised what it was.

Her favourite chocolate.

The dropped the plate she was drying, not noticing it smashing on the floor, and ran, smelling her way to the delicious treat.

Then she saw it. Lying on a small table that had been left in the middle of a corridor.

In any other circumstance, she would have been suspicious. But this was her favourite chocolate, she'd lost all sense of her surroundings. She only had eyes for it.

She darted forwards, then finally noticed the trap.

As she sprang it.

A lamp came crashing down, followed by a painting, then a table, and then a huge chain of collisions and collapses that brought up a huge racket as the many pieces of furniture caused the biggest cacophony you could imagine.

She heard chuckling, a low noise, and span to see Leon, hand over his mouth and shaking slightly from the humorous sound.

"I CRUSH YOU!" She yelled, before running to attack Leon.


	30. Fairytale

**Theme: Fairytale**

**Characters: Aerith, Zack, Cloud**

**Time: Post KHII, post Gift**

**Word Count: 345**

* * *

><p>It was like a fairytale to Aerith. She was going to marry the man of her dreams, the handsome soldier who was Zack. She never thought that they could be real, but this one had come true.<p>

True, the wedding was in the Radiant Garden Town Hall, but still...

The doors at the end of the aisle opened, and she walked down the aisle. She was in a dress, rose pink, and held a bouquet identical to the first one Zack gave her. She smiled as she saw Zack, wearing a black suit and looking unusually smart. It didn't suit him. Not one bit.

She stepped up to the flower covered altar, standing next to the ravenette man she loved so much.

The went through the service, during which time Zack nearly dozed off and Aerith switched her attention between the flowers and her soon-to-be husband. They reached the end of the service.

"Zack Fair. Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, til death do you part?"

"I do."

"Aerith Fairbough. Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, til death do you part?"

"I do."

Cloud, Zack's best man, stepped forwards with the rings. He looked as strange as Zack in a suit. "Good luck." He whispered.

"... forever hold your peace." Aerith hadn't heard the priest speaking one of the last lines of the service.

Zack slipped a ring only her index finger, then Aerith did the same for him.

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Aerith hadn't really believed fairytales could ever come true. Zack thought the same.

But in the applause, both of them realised just how wrong they had been.

They had found one, a single one, that was true.

Zack kissed his new wife, knowing that they'd be together forever.

Aerith closed her eyes, and realised just how long she'd wished for love. And then, she got this wonderful gift from him, and now, this fairytale would never end.


	31. Flower Girl

**Theme: Flower Girl**

**Characters: Terra, Aerith, Kairi**

**Time: During BBS**

**Word Count: 270**

* * *

><p>Terra breathed in the scent of the flowers, looking around the courtyard in the town of Radiant Garden. He saw two children picking flowers, one with light brown hair and wearing a pink dress, the other auburn haired and wearing a purple skirt and white t-shirt. The brunette seemed to be a little older, and seemed to be tutoring the auburn haired girl.<p>

"Hello." He said to hem, startling them both. "Could you help me? I'm a little lost." He explained.

"All right." The auburn haired girl said.

"Where do you want to go?" The elder asked.

"How do you get to that castle?" He asked, pointing above the walls of the courtyard to the tallest building in Radiant Garden.

"You go up those steps, and follow the path." The younger said, pointing to the far corner of the courtyard. "Just stay on the path. You can't miss it." She picked a flower, the held it out to him. "For you." She said, spinning it between her fingers. He took it, smelling it before giving her a smile.

"Thank you." He put it into a button hole then, giving them one last little wave, walked off to find Master Xehanort.

Meanwhile, the two little flower girls went back to picking flowers for the younger girl's grandmother, a woman loved by the whole town.

"Kairi, you're lucky." The brunette commented.

"How Aerith?" Kairi asked.

"Everyone likes you. And you live with a really wonderful woman." Aerith smiled at her, before turning back.

The little flower girl beamed with pride.


	32. Sleep

**Theme: Sleep**

**Characters: Isa, Lea**

**Time: Post BBS**

**Word Count: 347**

* * *

><p>"HEY ISA!"<p>

The bluette moaned as he looked at his alarm clock. 5:27. So it wasn't his alarm. Not that it had an 'annoying loud voice' setting anyway...

"WAKE UP ISA!" The voice shouted again, and said boy groggily looked up from is cushion...

... And right into the grinning face of his (somehow) best friend.

Needless to say, if someone woke up to find someone in their room (especially when the door had been locked), and looming over their bed with a giant, slightly creepy grin on their face they would probably have screamed.

Isa just threw a pillow at Lea and lay back down. "Go away and let me sleep." Isa told him, feeling his eyes shut and his body go heavy.

"NO!" The shout was right next to his ear. "OW!" Lea held his hand where Isa had slapped him, the bluette sitting up again and glaring at him through half-closed eyelids.

"I'd kill you, but murder is too hard to cover up." Isa was so mad, he could practically feel the fire coming off of him.

"Why are you on fire?" Lea asked, paying no attention to the previous comment.

"Why did you wake me up at this ungodly hour?" Isa asked venomously.

"I've got a plan!" Isa groaned in despair. "When the guards get lunch, we'll slip in through the side door!"

"And why did you wake me up more than seven hours before it would happen?" Isa asked, now back on his back, ready to go back to sleep.

"So we can get ready!" Lea grabbed Isa's hand and started to drag him up, but was met by sharp fingernails in his wrist.

"Let go of me and let me sleep. You may not need it but I do. Now go away!" Isa turned onto his side, and was about to fall back to sleep when Lea whispered something to him.

"Get up, or I'll tell everyone that you suck your thumb." Isa was awake in milliseconds.


	33. Cook

**Theme: Cook**

**Characters: Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, Merlin, Cid, Yuna, Rikku, Paine**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 411**

* * *

><p>"We need to hire a cook." Yuffie commented as she looked at the mess that tried to pass itself off as Toad In The Hole on her plate. It was black, and when she'd cut open a sausage, she'd found it raw on the inside. "A ninja needs better food than this!" She cried in despair.<p>

"What's wrong with my cooking?" The Gullwings had come in from the kitchen, and Rikku was at the front, hands on her hips and a fire in her eyes.

Even Cloud flinched.

"Um... nothing, nothing, nothing at all!" Yuffie stammered, knowing how Rikku was very prone to playing horrible jokes on people she didn't like.

"Yeah, right. What'd you cook this at?" Cid asked. "A thousand degrees?"

A burnt, frozen sausage hit him between the eyes. It gave him a small burn, then landed on some papers in front of him and set the on fire.

There were laughs and cheers from the girls. Leon and Merlin all chucked. Cloud was impassive and Cid just glared, before remembering the burn and running off to soak it in running water for ten minutes.

"It would give us more time to work on restoration..." Leon commented.

"True, indeed." Merlin added.

"I'm in for in." Cloud said. "It's not like any of us can cook anyway." He added, earning some angry glares.

"I like the idea of getting a cook." Aerith said, putting out the fire the sausage had caused. "Leon, can you move that to something that wont burn?" She pointed at the sausage.

"I think it's a good idea." Tifa told them.

"Add three more votes!" Yuna called, Rikku nd Paine nodding as they confirmed that they had had a say in the matter.

"Well, it's unaminos... umanimas... unenigmas... Everyone thinks we should get a cook!" Yuffie declaired.

"Unanimous." Paine deadpanned.

"What about Cid?" Tifa asked.

"I think he agrees." Leon told her.

"I'll start looking tomorrow." Aerith told them. "You guys work on the restoration, I'll deal with this."

"Thanks Aer!" Yuffie gave her a hug, then threw her Toad In The Hole in the bin and dashed off to her room before Rikku could reprimand her. The rest of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee trailed up after her, dreaming about when they would finally be able to eat what was cooked for them.


	34. Fight

**Theme: Fight**

**Characters: Leon, Cloud, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Tifa, Yuffie, Aerith, Stitch**

**Time: During KHII**

**Word Count: 459**

* * *

><p>The duo of swordsmen lay into the Heartless, slashing left and right with their swords as they took out the many Heartless that were heading for the town. Cloud sent a wave of energy through the air, taking out many Heartless in that line, but more came to fill the gaps. Leon did something similar, only with a barrage of fire from his Gunblade, wiping out a wiper, more shallow swath of Heartless. But more came to fill the empty space. Soon both were lost in the crowd. But something surprised Cloud. All of the Heartless were destroyed at once. He set eyes on a figure. "Sephiroth." He called. The figure turned.<p>

The three Gullwings flew above the heads of the Heartless, distracting them and leading them off cliffs when they were stupid enough to follow. They could also land some rather powerful kicks. Sharing a nod, the trio split into two groups, Rikku luring away a Heartless and bringing it to the edge of the cliff. Yuna and Paine jumped up and flew at it, both with a leg extended towards it. The kick knocked it off of the cliff, and the three shared a short celebration, before they noticed a large crowd of Heartless swarming towards them.

Tifa punched her way through the Heartless, kicking them away and destroying at least one for every punch, sometimes even two or three if they were idiotic enough for them to line up. She punched through more, and spotted Cloud through the heaving mass. She struck out with even more violence, actually starting a small rockfall that took out about fifty of the Heartless. She punched through and continued to fight her way towards the man. "Cloud!" She called.

Yuffie fell. She'd caught her shuriken, her giant one, and was ready to collapse, when she felt a surge of energy that she recognized as a Curaga spell. She got back to her feet, leaning on her knees to catch her breath and shrugging off Aerith's offer of help, then started to cut through the Heartless with the shuriken, throwing the smaller ones left, right and center from her near unlimited source as she slashed with the larger. Aerith followed, casting Holy when she had to, but letting Yuffie do the rest.

Stitch blasted away at the Heartless, his laser guns at the ready as he somersaulted to dodge attacks from all sides, felling Heartless all the while. He chuckled as one laser grazed three before hitting a fourth full on the chest, then flipped backwards to avoid a stab that would have otherwise killed him, shooting multiple blasts during the fall to wipe out the offending Heartless and several others nearby. He landed, then continued to blast away.


	35. Insomnia

**Theme: Insomnia**

**Characters: Lea, Isa**

**Time: Post BBS, sort-of-sequel to Sleep**

**Word Count: 294**

* * *

><p>"Do you have insomnia or something?" Isa groaned as he was woken by Lea for the forty ninth day in a row. He looked at his alarm clock. 4:23. "Because I don't." He lay back on his side and, with his thumb moving automatically to his lips, he tried to get back to sleep.<p>

He was disturbed by Lea's voice. "Come on Isa! Wake up!"

"How do you keep getting into my room?" Isa complained, his thumb in front of his mouth.

"Secret. Now come on! We've got work to do!" Lea told him, trying to pull him out of bed.

Isa groaned. "What's this plan? Last time you woke me up at an obscene hour it was that lunch break idea. I hope this isn't as bad as this one." Isa turned away from the red-head, closing his eyes.

"This one's great! We'll distract them with fireworks!"

"Not that plan again. I don't want to be blown up. Last time it was just because the firework didn't go off that I'm not dead now." Isa turned his head to glare at Lea before rolling back.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Lea told the bluette.

Isa fell out of bed. Lea had yanked him out. "I highly doubt that." Isa muttered as he stood, glaring at his (somehow) best friend.

"Come on grumpy!" Lea pulled him out, not even giving the bluette a chance to pull on some clothes, aside from his pajamas, before the two were at the front door.

"Lea, let me get dressed at least." Isa sternly told Lea, who let go. Within five minutes, the sleepy boy and the apparent insomniac were out.

The sun hadn't even risen.


	36. Loss

**Theme: Loss**

**Characters: Cloud, Sephiroth, Tifa**

**Time: During KHII**

**Word Count: 277**

* * *

><p>"Loose yourself." Sephiroth near ordered Cloud as they began to fight.<p>

They circled each other like sharks, swords at the ready.

Suddenly, Cloud leapt forwards, becoming practically a blur as he sped towards Sephiroth...

... Who dodged, as easily as if Cloud was moving in slow motion. Cloud growled, lashing out with a barrage of fast, powerful strikes that damaged just about everything but Sephiroth.

"Fighting me is to loose one's self to the darkness." Sephiroth reminded him. "Now, tell me what you cherish most." He jumped into the air. "Give me the pleasure of taking it away."

"Cloud!" Tifa ran up to the two swordsmen, sending a punch at Sephiroth, who was at that moment distracted by Cloud's sword, which he had to block. He slid about two meters before stopping.

"Tifa. What are you..."

"Let me help you!" The shorter brunette interrupted.

"I have to do this alone."

"Well, it would be your loss if I wasn't as stubborn as you say I am." Tifa chuckled slightly when she saw the corner of Cloud's mouth twitch into a smile. "I'm not going to let you fight alone." She told him.

"Thanks." Cloud said after a moment's hesitation, but wasn't heard as Tifa was attacking Sephiroth at that moment, actually laying several blows when she got in close enough to be able to avoid the sword. Cloud rushed in to assist, his Buster Blade at the ready as he charge at his opponent.

_Who knows?_ He thought to himself. _Maybe not letting Tifa help was my loss._ He reached Sephiroth, and brought his sword down.


	37. Wizard

**Theme: Wizard**

**Characters: Cloud, Leon, Yuffie, Merlin**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 329**

* * *

><p>"Merlin!" Leon shouted. "Where is that wizard?" He growled as there was no reply. "First he turns all of our weapons into rubber, then his furniture attacked us, now we just can't find him." Leon was mad.<p>

As was Cloud, who was in the Restoration Site, trying to fend off a Shadow that seemed to be impervious to rubber, unlike all those other Heartless. Cloud growled. "Merlin had better pray that I'm not the one to find him..." He took another slash at the Shadow, then started to back up.

Leon ran through to the Restoration Site, where he saw something he never expected. Cloud struggling to defeat a Shadow. Leon chuckled. "Laugh all you want,this one's impervious to rubber!" Cloud called.

"Firaga!" The two turned, then jumped to the side as a fireball came hurtling towards them. It hit the Shadow, which disintegrated. "Ah, so this is where you chaps were. My, my. What happened to your swords?" Merlin was genuinely surprised.

"You happened to them." Cloud growled.

"You and that blasted wand."

"Now hold on a minute!" Merlin waved his hands in front of his face. "Someone stole my wand last night! It couldn't have been me!" The look of sher terror on the wizard's face convinced them.

"If it wasn't you, then who..."

There was a mad laughter, a winding of gears, then Yuffie emerged from the ground on a rising, slowly spinning platform. It stopped moving, in both directions, and Yuffie stopped laughing, pulling out Merlin's wand. "Looking for this?" She asked, innocently.

"Yes, we are!" Leon glared at her, which almost set her on fire.

"Well you'll just have to catch me first!" She jumped over the trio, then ran off, using the wand to animate several objects to distract them.

"I hope you're fast, wizard." Cloud said before running off to try to catch the now ninja-wizard.


	38. Breakfast

**Theme: Breakfast**

**Characters: Sora, Riku, Kairi**

**Time: Post KHII, Post Morning (but only just).**

**Word Count: 310**

* * *

><p>The trio walked down into the dining room of Merlin's house, surprised to see that Rikku and Yuffie were still asleep. Riku frowned. "How..."<p>

"Aerith used Sleep on them so that we could actually get some breakfast today." Yuna told them.

"Oh. Nice idea!" Sora chimed to Aerith, who smiled and gave him a nod before returning to her food. The three friends grabbed plates and started to help themselves to the buffet style meal waiting for them.

Sora filled his plate twice over, yet still somehow stopped any from falling.

"How do you do that?" Kairi asked him, pointing at the food.

"It's an art mastered from a lot of hard work and natural talent!" He declared.

"He uses Aero to stop any from falling." Riku told her.

"Riku!" Sora glared at him, but then had to quickly recast Aero as it failed.

That failed as well.

He watched as his breakfast fell to the floor.

Riku and Kairi laughed openly, while Aerith and Yuna hid their's.

Sora glared at Riku. "You evil, self-centered, idiotic..." Sora was interrupted by Riku.

"He speaks poinyards, and every stab hurts!" Riku mock fainted, then blinked as Ultima Weapon appeared in front of him.

"I wouldn't mind." Sora said through gritted teeth, then pushed Riku's chair over with his Keyblade. Riku scowled from the floor.

"What's all the noise?" Rikku asked, coming through the door with Yuffie.

"FOOD!" Yuffie cried suddenly, and in seconds they were at the table, laying about with cutlery as they ate their way through what would feed ten.

"We never even got to eat!" Sora moaned, then watched in despair as Riku and Kairi started to slowly eat their meals. "Evil." He dubbed them, before they marched back up to his and Riku's room.


	39. Hero

**Note, I don't own the song.**

**Theme: Hero**

**Characters: Yuna, Rikku, Paine**

**Time: Post KHII, post Dance**

**Word Count: 560**

* * *

><p>"Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?" Yuna sang., kneeling at the front of the stage.<p>

"Where's the street wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?" Rikku was in a similar pose, looking stage right.

"Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?" Paine mirrored Rikku almost perfectly.

"Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need." The trio sang. They stood in union, and the lights blazed.

"I need a hero!" Yuna proclaimed.

"I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night!" Rikku span to face the audience, striking a pose.

"He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast,

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!" Paine strode towards the front of the stage. The lights dimmed slightly. The other two echoed the last four words.

"Somewhere after midnight,

In my wildest fantasy..." Paine stood almost like she was praying.

"Somewhere just beyond my reach,

There's someone reaching back for me..." Rikku mirrored the pose.

"Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat,

It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet" Yuna was the last to go into that pose.

"I need a hero!" She shouted, lights blazing as the three exploded from that position.

"I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night!"

"He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight!" Paine had reached the back of the stage and was not walking forwards again, but this time pushing away three shirtless men.

"I need a hero!" The three called, the three men each running up to one of them.

"I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light!" They all called again, the men spinning them under their arms before leaning them back, each Gullwing lifting a leg.

"He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon,

And he's gotta be larger than life!" This time, they were held up above the men's heads, half way to sitting on their shoulders.

"Up where the mountains meet the heavens above,"

"Out where the lightning splits the sea."

"I would swear that there's someone somewhere watching over me!" The three were singing perfectly, each picking up a line when one of the others finished.

"Through the wind and the chill and the rain,"

"And the storm and the flood,"

"I can feel his approach like the fire in my blood!" Once again, the singing order was Yuna, Rikku Paine.

"Like the fire in my blood," Yuna echoed.

"Like the fire in my blood," Rikku mimicked.

"Like the fire in my blood," Paine copied.

"Like the fire in my blood!" The three sang.

"He's a big city kid in a small town,

They said he couldn't do it,

He knew he had to." The three sang in perfect union, being moved to a position like lying down while still being lifted by the men.

Then, they echoed the word 'hero' several times before the music went quiet.

The Radiant Garden Celebratory Stadium burst into applause.

"It's true!" Riku cried. "We need heroes!" Yuna bit back laughter.

* * *

><p><strong>Right, I have something of a request for you WishingDreamer5. Which of these themes would you most like to see for the 'Theme of Your Choice' theme:<strong>

**1) Vain**

**2) Revisit**

**3) Showdown**

**4) Introduction**

**5) Magic**

**6) Open**

**I'll probably do them all at some point, but which do you want to read as part of the challenge?**


	40. Desert

**Theme: Desert**

**Characters: Leon, Yuffie, Aerith**

**Time: Towards the end of KH**

**Word Count: 308**

* * *

><p>"This place is almost a desert..." Aerith whispered as she looked from a balcony on one of the higher floors of their old nursery. The trio could see past the Rising Falls to a ruined town, a castle in the middle being the main thing visible.<p>

"There's no sand!" Yuffie told her, bemused. "How is it a desert?"

"A desert doesn't need sand." Leon told the ninja. "Would wasteland be better for you?" He asked sarcastically.

She didn't notice. "Yeah." She looked back over the edge of the balcony sorrowfully. "This place is a wasteland..." She tried to whisper, failing miserably. The other two ignored her.

"I can't believe the World's become like this..." Aerith commented. "I wonder if that field's still there..." She added in a whisper.

"I wonder when Cid will arrive..." Yuffie said. "I love this time away from that lecher!" She cheered, gaining glares from the other two.

"This isn't the time." Aerith told her sternly.

"If you're not going to stay quiet, then go and leave us the reminisce in peace." Leon added.

"Fine!" Yuffie turned and walked off through the balcony doors, tripping over the head of a dummy that was slightly reminiscent of Maleficent. The other two chuckled slightly, then turned back to the desert in front of them, stretching as far as they could see.

"It's sad..." Aerith whispered. "There's so little left..."

"We can fix it." Aerith turned to the brunette. "We'll rebuild the town and make it as good as it used to be." He turned to her. "Maybe even make it better..."

"We'll try..." Aerith replied. "If nothing else, we'll try..." Both turned back to face the desert in front of them, all consuming and infinite.


	41. Your's

**Theme: Your's**

**Characters: Rikku, Yuffie, Zack, Aerith**

**Time: Post KHII, sort of related to the four Zaerith themes, around Fairytale.**

**Word Count: 320**

* * *

><p>"That's mine!"<p>

"No, it's mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Are those two ever quiet?" Zack ask Aerith, who was leaning on his shoulder, one hand holding a book, the other on the ravenette's leg.

"Not often." Came the reply, the brunette trying to remember the last time the two had actually shut up.

"THAT CUPCAKE IS MINE!"

"NO, IT'S MINE!"

"Where's Merlin when you need him?" Zack muttered, glaring at Rikku and Yuffie. "Why don't they just cut it in half?"

"They're too stubborn." Aerith offered. "And would never even think of that."

"IT'S MINE!" Both shouted at the same time, glaring daggers over the little sugary treat.

"That's it!" Zack shouted, standing and walking over to the table. He grabbed the cupcake. "If you two don't shut up, I'll throw this cupcake away." He growled.

That shut them up.

For all of three seconds, at least.

Then they began to shout again, this time at Zack.

"GIVE THAT BACK!"

"THAT'S MY CUPCAKE!"

"NO, IT'S MINE!"

"Right, since you can't shut up, I'll throw this away." He turned and started to walk away, holding the cake in plain sight to the two squabbling 'children'.

"PLEASE! NO!" Both shouted in union, begging him.

Zack paused. "Right. I'll give this to the person who most deserves it." He said, pointing at each of the two in turn. After about a minute, he seemed to have finally decided. "I'll think this is..." he paused, building up the suspence. "... your's!" He pointed at the winner.

Yuffie and Rikku moaned as Zack sat back down, giving the cake to Aerith.

"Thank you honey." She said, taking a small bite out of the treat while Yuffie and Rikku watched the cupcake longingly as it slowly passed through her lips.


	42. Grumpy

**Theme: Grumpy**

**Characters: Cloud, Rikku**

**Time: Post KHII, post Smile**

**Word Count: 278**

* * *

><p>Cloud frowned as he saw the banner in his room. <em>CLOUD! DON'T BE GRUMPY!<em>

He'd seen that same banner, or at least identical ones, twenty times that day, at the very least. And every time, everyone else present claimed that it didn't exist, that he was making things up.

He had plans to kill Tifa. He just needed a good time...

He was certain it was her. She'd been pestering him to cheer up for ages. Ever since she'd roped in Denzel and Marlene in an attempt to make him smile he'd known, but even before he'd felt that's what her goal may have been.

He wondered how much munny Tifa had spent to bribe everybody.

Either that or everyone thought he was too 'grumpy'.

He frowned, tearing down the banner and slicing it in half with his sword.

Then again.

And again.

And again.

He cut it until it was in small pieces, throwing it out of the window and watching the slightly yellow pieces of cloth fluttered away, among the buildings of Radiant Garden.

He turned.

_CLOUD! DON'T BE GRUMPY!_

He flinched as he saw the banner, hung right in front of him. Angrily, he cut it down, then tore it apart with his hands, throwing it out of the window again.

He heard a scream behind him.

He span to see Rikku in her pixie form, lying on the ground and holding one corner of a banner, identical to the one's he'd been seeing all day.

Rikku gulped, then flew up to the rafters and hid from Cloud's glare. He'd punish her for calling him grumpy. And he'd make it slow.

And painful.

"Grumpy!"


	43. Daydream

**Theme: Daydream**

**Characters: Riku, Sora, Kairi**

**Time: During KH, before Agrabah**

**Word Count: 415**

* * *

><p>Riku flopped back on his bed in Hollow Bastion, eyes half closed as he tried to recover some energy from his exhausting day's work. Maleficent had made him destroy a world.<p>

He'd hated doing it, but he was determined to save Kairi. Noting would stop him.

_He was on the island, sparring with Sora as Kairi judged the fight between them. Sora tried to get close, but Riku jumped back and caused Sora to stumble, taking the opportunity to stab the brunette._

_Sora mocked death._

"_And Riku is the winner!" Kairi announced._

"_Bad luck Sora." Riku said to the brunette._

_Sora lay still._

"_Sora?"_

"_Sora!" Kairi was kneeling next to him in an instant. "Sora! Don't go into the light!" She was being highly over dramatic. "SORA!"_

"_BOO!" Sora jumped up suddenly, almost headbutting Kairi._

"_You idiot." Riku said, stamping on Sora's chest and knocking the boy flat._

"_What? You two are fun to tease!" He laughed. Unwillingly, Kairi began to laugh to, and soon Riku had joined in._

He missed those days. When he only fought Sora for fun, when they were such good friends.

But he linked the times before even more...

_Sora looked to his silverette friend, the two looking around the small cave underneath the giant tree._

"_This place is creepy..." Sora muttered, rubbing his arms and shivering slightly, despite how stuffy it was._

"_You really think that?" Riku laughed, despite being creeped out himself._

"_It is!" The brunette shouted back, his voice echoing eerily in the quiet place._

_Riku laughed as his friend's attempt to defend himself, reaching to ruffle his hair. The younger boy pouted._

"_Hey, why don't we make this out secret place?" Sora suggested, grinning at his idea. "We could decorate the walls!" He smiled, eager to try to make the cave less gloomy._

"_Nice idea..." Riku looked around the room, imagining it when it was fully decorated. He smiled._

"_Thanks Ri!" The four year old smiled, then starting to hunt around for something._

"_What are you looking for?"_

"_A stone." Sora looked up. "I'm going to scratch our names at the entrance." He smiled. "It is our secret place after all!"_

Riku was broken from his daydream by a knocking at his door. "Riku. You are wanted in the chapel." An unfamiliar voice said.

He sighed.

How he wished he was back in that daydream.


	44. Secret

**Theme: Secret**

**Characters: Riku, Kairi (Sort of), Ansem SoD**

**Time: During KH, during Hollow Bastion**

**Word Count: 308**

* * *

><p>Riku fled through the castle, running from his old friend as he quickly activated a wide variety of traps and puzzles behind him, buying himself time by the figurative bucket load as he escaped from the Keyblade Wielder who had somehow regained his Keyblade. He claimed it was friendship, but Riku knew how easily Sora betrayed his friends, like back at the islands...<p>

Oh, how he missed those old times. But then Kairi came along and spoiled it.

He arrived in the grand hall, and ran up to Kairi, seeing the girl who had pushed him and Sora apart. He hated how his best friend had betrayed him, sharing the secret with someone else, making it their secret place.

He hated Sora for it.

He hated Kairi for it.

He didn't even remember why he'd started to look for Kairi once he'd arrived in Hollow Bastion.

He could remember it all. What he'd shouted, Sora's face, Selphie's reaction. He remembered it all. And he hated himself for it.

It was his secret grudge.

Who knows, maybe he'd started to look for Kairi simply to make Sora angry. Angry that he couldn't find her.

The blank blue orbs in Kairi's face seemed to stare at him, emotionless and unmoving.

It was slightly creepy.

Riku had always loathed Sora for that day, the day when that secret of theirs was shared, when his trust was betrayed.

He hated it.

Hated how the secret was shared, the trust broken...

He looked towards the Keyhole.

"Soon, it will be a new secret..." He muttered to himself, leaving to get himself ready.

"It will be..." A figure whispered, hiding in the shadows. "But not the one you think..." He stepped into the light, revealing long grey hair and a Heartless emblem on his partially exposed chest. "Another secret completely..."


	45. Rebel

**Theme: Rebel**

**Characters: Data-Sora, Data-Riku**

**Time: During Coded, in Riku's data (in Hollow Bastion)**

**Word Count: 275**

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry Sora..."<p>

"Wait! What did I tell you about using the 'S' word?"

"So... You're right." Data-Riku sighed, looking at the other data-forged boy who had entered his data, trying to save his friend from the Bugs inside him.

"The Bugs are making my body rebel against me."

"So you're saying that nothing you do outside of your data, to the guys waiting in Hollow Bastion, will be intentional? That's good to hear." Data-Sora smiled at his friend.

"You don't get it! The Bugs are taking over my body!" Data-Riku tried to explain.

"What, the Bugs I'm about to squash?" Data-Sora grinned. "Look, you'll be back to your old self soon, I promise you. You don't have to worry about a thing. I'll take them out, one after another."

Data-Riku couldn't help but chuckle. "Thanks for helping me Sora."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

"Right." Riku reached out his hand. "This leads to the next world. Good luck in there." He added, watching as Sora ran to the portal and entered it, going into some world somewhere inside of him. He'd be able to see what world when the Bugs were gone from it, at he could enter it again.

"You'd better hurry Sora." He called. "The Bugs are multiplying!"

"Thanks for telling me. I'll take care of them for you!" He heard Sora reply.

"I hope he does hurry. The Bugs are rebelling more and more, all the time..." He muttered as he once again monitored his data, watching the Bugs vanish, one by one.


	46. Awkward

**Theme: Awkward**

**Characters: Leon, Tifa, Cid, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Red XIII**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 371**

* * *

><p>"Tifa, you're late for work." Leon said as he opened the door to the boxer's room. "You'd better be aw..." Leon's face burned as he subconsciously stared at the semi-naked woman.<p>

There was a few second's silence as they regarded each other, both too shocked to do anything.

"GET OUT!" Tifa cried, looking for something to throw.

Leon darted out of the room and slamming the door, feeling relieved that he'd gotten out of there so quickly, then more so as something heavy hit the door.

He didn't want to know what. He knew some of the oddities Tifa collected, and not all of them could be found in the mind if an innocent person without a dirty mind...

She was halfway to being a hoarder.

"That, was awkward." He said, resting against the door for a second before heading down to the main room.

"That was a major faux pas." Cid called from his computer, where he was working on the design for the Claymore .

"What?" Leon was confused.

"Walking into Tifa's room like that. Seriously, if you want to bed a girl there are some things you shouldn't do."

"What?" Leon's face heated up again as he started to feel a temptation to attack Cid, with or without his Gunblade. "How did you know anyway?"

"Eh." Cid waved to the screen, and Leon noticed a small window showing Tifa's bedroom, and a departing Tifa.

"Peeping Tom!" Yuffie accused, running up behind the two.

"Go back to your mirrors and stuff. I'm doing man's work."

"SEXIST!" Yuffie shouted.

"Ah, will you shut up lass?" Cait Sith, one of the two newest members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Comity, begged.

"And don't you need to help Cloud defend the town against Heartless?" Red XIII, the other newest member, added.

Yuffie hmphed and strode off, grabbing her shuriken on the way.

"There we go." Cait Sith returned to his breakfast. "That must have been awkward." He added, before taking a mouthful of toast.

"It really was..." Leon said, pinching his nose as he tried not to think what Tifa would do to him.


	47. Flirt

**Theme: Flirt**

**Characters: Zack, Aerith, Rikku, Paine, Yuna**

**Time: Post KHII, post Fairytale**

**Word Count: 271**

* * *

><p>"You guys don't flirt much, do you?"<p>

Aerith and Zack looked at the girl bemused.

"I always thought married couples would flirt a lot, but you guys..." She shot them a confused look for no apparent reason. "... You really don't."

"Do you re..." Aerith was interrupted.

"I mean sure, there was that cupcake thing. But still, sheesh, since you two got together, flirting in public seems to be shunned by you two!" Rikku commented, talking a mile a minute. "What's wrong with it? Is it going out of fashion or something?" Rikku realised what she'd said. "Wait, it's not going out of fashion, is it? I LIKED FLIRTING!" She complained as her mind thought up many a random scenario.

"Stop talking Rikku." Paine told her, making the blond frown in annoyance.

"She's right, as ever. Stop talking." Yuna begged.

Rikku ignored them. "Or are you breaking up? And so soon after the marriage? Oh, dear, what a tragedy!" She looked generally upset.

"Um, Rikku?" Zack said. "We're not breaking up." He told her.

"We, well he, flirts discreetly." Aerith explained. "You wouldn't have noticed it at all."

Rikku didn't notice the hidden insult. "So, you do flirt?"

"YES!" Rikku blinked as she looked between the other four people in the room, curious as to why they all yelled at her. She hadn't asked before, and nothing they were saying suggested fully to her that they did actually flirt.

"Sorry about that." Aerith added afterwards.

"It's fine." Rikku had already forgotten the incident.


	48. Brooding

**Theme: Brooding**

**Characters: Tifa, Denzel, Marlene**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 267**

* * *

><p>Tifa was always protective of Denzel and Marlene, ever since she first met them. She treated them like her own children, and that is what they pretty much were, her own children in everything but blood. It was as if she was a bird, and those two her young, she was constantly brooding, enveloping them in her metaphorical wings.<p>

She smiled as she watch the two play in the marketplace, chasing each other and laughing. The laughter was so similar to that of the old days, back before Hollow Bastion, when it was Radiant Garden.

She turned to finish her purchase, but kept on listening to their joy, their hope, their dreams, all shown in their laughter.

She knew Cloud was the opposite, brooding, but in a different way. While it was true he was rather protective of them, like a father should be, it was also true that he was consistently morbid, dark and withdrawn.

Tifa knew it was because of Sephiroth. She knew that if only he could defeat Sephiroth, rid him from all but memory. But, as Sephiroth himself had put it, he will never be a memory. She hated that, and secretly knew that Cloud did to. But he couldn't do anything about it. Sephiroth would haunt him, even if he was defeated that SOLDIER would haunt Cloud for eternity.

It wasn't his fault.

And Tifa knew he'd be brooding for a long time, maybe even forever.

But she'd brood too. Brood over him, protecting him as well as Denzel and Marlene for as long as she could.

She was certain of it.


	49. Tournament

**Theme: Tournament**

**Characters: Yuffie, Rikku, Paine, Yuna, Leon, Cloud, Aerith, Zack, Cid, Cait Sith, Red XIII, Tifa**

**Time: Post KHII**

**Word Count: 376**

* * *

><p>"SUPER NINJA TOURNAMENT!"<p>

"So, anyone got an idea as to what to do today?" Yuna asked as Yuffie frowned.

"Let's have a ninja tournament!" She called.

"I'm going to do some training." Leon said, pulling on one shoe.

"Same here." Cloud added from his post in the corner.

"I've got _Summer Meadow_." Aerith added. "With my new helper." She smiled at Zack.

"Claymores ain't gonna build themselves." Cid said from the computer.

"So it's just me, the Gullwings, Tifa, Cait Sith and Red XIII?"

"'Fraid not lassie. Me and Red have to work!" Cait Sith told the ninja before jumping on Red's back, the beast running through the open door.

"I've got training as well." Tifa said. "With Yuna." The two left, leaving just the three girls.

"Fine." Paine said, angrily.

"ALL RIGHT!" Rikku squealed, punching the air as she jumped up from her seat.

"Right, hide in town somewhere and when we get to midday, start the hunt!" Yuffie explained before running off.

Rikku eagerly followed, while Paine just walked, knowing the perfect place to hide.

The clock stuck twelve.

Rikku jumped from behind a pile of crates, holding a smoke bomb in one hand and a knife in the other as she started to look for the other two.

There was a flash of raven and she threw the knife.

It bounced off a wall.

She frowned, then went to pick it up.

"Strike one!" Rikku spun, but was too late as Yuffie threw five shuriken at once, pinning her to the wall. "Now to get Paine!" The ninja ran up a wall, and vanished from Riku's sight.

Paine was walking down a street, paying seemingly no attention to anything as she held her sword over her shoulder.

Yuffie grinned, then leapt from a rooftop. "Strike two!" She shouted as she once again threw several shuriken.

Paine span, sending the shuriken flying upwards with her sword, then sending them back at Yuffie.

The ninja was too shocked to do anything. The shuriken pinned her to a wall, and that was that.

"This tournament is over." Paine said before starting to walk back to her home.


	50. Showdown

**Theme: Showdown (Prompt of choice)**

**Characters: Riku, Maleficent, Dragon, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Beast, Tinkerbell**

**Time: During KH, during Hollow Bastion**

**Word Count: 405**

* * *

><p>Riku pulled his Keyblade out of Maleficent's heart, completely unlocking her heart before leaving the small room. Maleficent doubled over, clutching her chest as Darkness started to swirl around her, soon hiding her and growing, bigger and bigger until it cleared, revealing a huge, black dragon with glowing green eyes.<p>

Sora summoned his Keyblade while Donald and Goofy pulled out their weapons, Beast getting into a battle stance as he judged the distance between himself and the dragon's head.

The dragon wasted no time, sending a blast of fire at the four allies which was almost neutralized by a powerful Aeroga, compliments of Donald, who instantly followed up with a barrage of Firaga, Blizzaga and Thundaga on the head while Sora, Goofy and Beast moved in close.

Donald's magic ran out, and Goofy threw an Either before starting to climb the dragon's leg. Meanwhile, Sora had started to use Strike Raid to hit the head repeatedly and powerfully, finishing up with an even more powerful Judgment attack which made the dragon's head rear back, then fall on the ground, stunned, as Beast started to attack, Sora and Goofy joining in after a few seconds.

But the dragon suddenly quickly rose it's head and slashed with it's claws, hitting both Sora and Beast and severely injuring them. Sora jumped away from the fight, the others distracting the dragon as the brunette summoned Tinkerbell, who flicked him on the nose before healing him and Beast, then flying off to treat Goofy.

They repeated their previous tactic, Sora and Donald barraging the dragon with magic and Strike Raid respectively, until the head fell stunned. Then one of them would throw and Either to Donald and the three would start to pound away at the head. All the while, Tinkerbell healed any damage they suffered.

It wasn't long before the dragon fell to the ground for the last time, vanishing in a storm of darkness as the four celebrated. All that was left behind was Maleficent's cloak.

"Think that was the final showdown?" Sora asked.

"So she was a puppet after all..." Riku commented, appearing out of nowhere and looking down at the abandoned cloak, then up at the raven watching them. "Her heart was consumed by Darkness, and she didn't even know it..." He mused, before leaving.

"I guess not!" goofy replied, scratching his head. "Gosh, that's anniang."

"Annoying!" Donald corrected automatically.

**Well, that's the end. I don't believe how quickly I wrote this.**

**Anyway, I'd like to thank you WishingDreamer5 for such a brilliant challenge, and I really hope you'll put up more of them.**

**Well, that's me, over and out!**


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